In general, a content data printing system configured such that a client transmits a print instruction to a server and the server which receives the print instruction converts content data to be printed into print data has been used. In recent years, an idea of cloud computing has attracted attention. The cloud computing is one of techniques, as well as the system described above, in which a server provides service to a client. The cloud computing is mainly characterized in that data conversion and data processing are executed in a distributed manner using a number of computing resources so that a number of requests transmitted from clients are processed at the same time. Nowadays, a great number of vendors provide various types of service through web service implemented in a cloud computing environment which realizes the cloud computing.
Among these vendors, Google (registered trademark) Inc. is remarkable. Google Inc. has taken proactive actions. For example, Google Inc. has a number of large data centers, proposes service provided in cooperation with a device, and develops a system of data communication between the device and the service. For example, Google Inc. develops a system of data communication for providing print service in cooperation with a printer, and releases an interface for a printer to perform data communication with a cloud computing environment provided by Google Inc. Since the interface is implemented in a printer, a client may specify the printer for printing even when the printer and a server are connected to each other through the Internet. This is referred to as a “cloud printing system”.
In the cloud printing system, printers are managed by a server in an integrated manner. When a user of a client selects a printer managed by print service using a web application activated by a web browser and registers a job, printing is performed.
On the other hand, in intranet environments in which a server similarly manages printers in an integrated manner, a system in which the server manages printer drivers and the printer drivers are installed in a client has been widely used. Examples of the system include a “Point and Print” system provided by Microsoft Windows (registered trademark) and an installation system disclosed in PTL 1. In the “Point and Print” system, a setting is performed such that a printer driver installed in a server is shared, and a clone copy of the printer driver is installed in a client in response to a client's instruction. The printer driver of the server and the printer driver of the client may communicate with each other and device capability information and port information set in the server may be used in the client as they are. Furthermore, in PTL 1, a group printer driver (virtual printer driver) which is a group of printer drivers installed in a printer server is generated and shared. The group printer driver has a configuration of a printer driver and is installed in a client when the group printer driver in the server is selected by the client. When printing is to be performed by an application of the client, output is performed from a printer managed by the server by selecting the group printer driver. Here, print data generated by the group printer driver is transmitted to the server serving as a share source of the group printer driver and is output to an actual printer through a printer driver managed by the server.
In any case, a user of the client does not perform complicated processes including provision and installation of a printer driver and obtains a setup system having high user-friendliness.